England Under-21s were knocked out of Euro 2021 by an injury-time wonder goal from Croatia.
The Young Lions beat Croatia 2-1 on the day, but needed to win by a two-goal margin as Switzerland lost to Portugal.
Getty
Getty
However, Domagoj Bradaric’s thunderbolt in the first minute of stoppage time broke England hearts.
Goals from Eberechi Eze and Curtis Jones proved to be in vain as England’s group stage defeats against Switzerland and Portugal were costly.
The Young Lions’ group stage exit is likely to mount more pressure on manager Aidy Boothroyd.
England came out firing in the early stages of the encounter as Jones hit the crossbar and Conor Gallagher had a goal-bound effort blocked.
Eze, who was starting his first match of the tournament, then opened the scoring from the spot in the 12th minute after Eddie Nketiah was tripped in the box.
AFP
Croatia were guilty of missing gilt-edged chances before the break as Dario Spikic fired over from close-range before Aaron Ramsdale bailed out Gallagher, who cheaply lost the ball on the edge of the box, by saving from Luka Ivanucec in a one-on-one situation.
It was England’s turn to be wasteful in the second-half as Eze and Nketiah went close, before Dwight McNeil hit the post from a free-kick.
With Switzerland losing to Portugal, England finally got their valuable second goal when Jones fired home with 16 minutes to go.
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Just when it looked like the Young Lions would be progressing to the quarter-finals of Euro 2021, Bradaric took aim from 30 yards with an unstoppable shot which beat Ramsdale.
There were sour scenes at full-time as Jones was shown a second yellow card for clashing with Croatia players.
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